Justin Steele has had a rough start to 2016, but last night was a step in the right direction. Steele worked five innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on four hits while walking one, and striking out six to pick up his first win of the year.

Craig Brooks was good once again in relief; he worked two scoreless innings, giving up two hits while walking one, and striking out five.

Scott Effross was also solid; he worked two innings, giving up one run, unearned, on three hits while striking out two.

TUESDAY APRIL 19, 2016

Things started horribly for the Iowa Cubs as they trailed 6-0 after four innings before making a furious comeback that fell just short. With the loss the Cubs fall to 4-7 on the season while New Orleans moves to 5-8.

At the Plate:

Arismendy Alcantara continues to have a bounce back 2016; he went 3-for-5 with his first triple of the season, a stolen base, and a run scored.

Willson Contreras actually made a couple of outs last night; he went 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored.

Dan Vogelbach had another solid game; he went 1-for-3 with his fourth double of the season, two walks, and two runs scored.

Albert Almora had a huge game; he went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a stolen base, and a run scored. Almora is now hitting .324 on the season.

On the Mound:

Scott Barnes got the start, and was torched. He worked two innings, giving up five runs on six hits while walking one, and striking out two.

Stephen Perakslis was solid out of the pen; he worked three innings, giving up two runs, both unearned while walking one, and striking out two.

Giovanni Soto worked a solid scoreless inning in his Cubs organizational debut.

Felix Pena was strong as he kept the Cubs in it; he worked two scoreless/hitless innings while walking one, and striking out three.

It was all Smokies in this one as they smacked three dingers en route to a 9-3 victory over the Montgomery Biscuits.

At the Plate:

Jacob Hannemann ripped his first homer of the season; he went 1-for-5 with an RBI, and a run scored.

Chesny Young was all over the place last night; he went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, and two runs scored.

Jeimer Candelario snapped out of an early season funk; he went 1-for-2 with two walks, an RBI, and two runs scored.

Bijan Rademacher had a huge game, what else is new? He went 2-for-4 with two homers (Four on the season now), four RBI’s, and two runs scored.

On the Mound:

Brad Markey struggled a bit with his command but did enough to pick up his first win of the season. Markey worked five innings, giving up two runs on eight hits while walking four, and striking out three.

Michael Jensen was decent in relief; he worked two innings, giving up one runs on two hits while walking two, and striking out two.

FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2016

Round Rock doesn’t like losing to Iowa, they haven’t done yet in four games this year. Tonight the Express jumped in front of Iowa 3-0 in the first, and 7-3 at the end of five before hanging on for an 8-6 win.

At the Plate:

Dan Vogelbach is swinging it; he went 1-for-4 with his first dinger of the season, three RBI’s, and a run scored.

Albert Almora is having a solid 2016 so far; he went 1-for-4 and is now hitting .280 on the season.

Ryan Kalish went 2-for-2 with a double, two walks, and two runs scored in the loss.

On the Mound:

Drew Rucinski was torched tonight as he picked up his second loss of the season. Rucinski worked 4.1 innings, giving up seven runs on five hits while walking four, and striking out four.

Stephen Perakslis stopped the bleeding somewhat; he worked 2.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits while walking one, and striking out one.

C.J. Reifenhauser worked just 1/3rd of an inning while walking one, and striking out one.

Myrtle Beach was completely handcuffed tonight as they were shut out by Carolina 2-0. The Pelicans could only manage two hits in the loss, definitely a great performance from Max Povse, the starter for the Mudcats.

At the Plate:

Gleyber Torres did a nice job of getting on base tonight, but that was about it for the Pelicans; Torres went 0-for-2 with two walks, and was caught stealing.

Jason Volser was 1-for-3 with his third double of the season in the loss.

Gioskar Amaya was the only other Pelican to register a hit; he finished the night 1-for-2 with a walk.

On the Mound:

Trevor Clifton got the start and saw his record fall to 0-2 on the season. Clifton worked 4.2 innings, giving up two runs on three hits while walking three, and striking out six.

Jordan Minch worked in and out of trouble tonight; he worked 2.1 scoreless innings giving up five hits.

The Pelican defense was not up to par in this one as they committed three errors which played a huge roll in a 3-2 loss to Carolina last night.

At the Plate:

Rashad Crawford has a relatively tame game by his standards; he went 1-for-5 with his third double of the season.

Gleyber Torres is starting to trend in the right direction; he went 1-for-4 with a walk.

Jason Volser had a solid game; he went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, an RBI, and a run scored.

Jeffrey Baez was hit and miss in this one; he made one of the costly errors, but finished the night going 2-for-4 with a double, and an RBI.

On the Mound:

Zach Hedges was really good in this one; unfortunately he was still hung with the loss. Hedges worked 6.2 innings, giving up three runs, one earned, on seven hits while walking three, and striking out one.

Daury Torrez kept things close out of the pen; he worked 1.1 scoreless/hitless innings while striking out two.

All Smokies in this one, Tennessee jumped out to a 7-0 lead en route to a 7-3 victory over Birmingham. The Smokies pounded out 13 hits, and walked six times, nice to see the “Cubs Way” permeating the organization.

Myrtle Beach came out on the wrong end of a pretty solid game between two teams. After falling behind 2-0 early the Pelicans tied things up in the third and it stayed that way until Winston-Salem scored twice in the ninth.

At the Plate:

Rashad Crawford has been awesome so far this year; he went 1-for-4 with a double, a walk, and a run scored. He is now hitting .381 on the season from the lead-off spot.

Shawon Dunston Jr. continues to produce; he went 1-for-4 with a walk, a double, and a run scored.

I love Ian Happ, deal with it. He went 1-for-3 with a walk, and an RBI in the loss.

A huge fourth inning propelled South Bend to a 6-5 victory over Bowling Green. Things got a little uneasy late in this one as the Hot Rods pulled to within one before their rally fizzled out.

At the Plate:

Remember how much I love Ian Happ? I love Donnie Dewees just as much; he went 3-for-4 with his second double of the year, three RBI’s, and a run scored. He is now hitting .440 on the season, that’s basically unpossible.

Sutton Whiting had a solid game; he went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and a run scored.

Bryant Flete has been very good this year as well; he went 1-for-3 with a walk, and two runs scored, he’s now hitting .429 on the season.

Tyler Alamo chipped in from the nine spot in the order; he went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and a run scored.

On the Mound:

Preston Morrison struggled a bit with command but was good enough to pick up his first win of the season. Morrison worked six innings, giving up two runs on four hits while walking four, and striking out six.

James Norwood had a rough go of it out of the pen; he worked 1.2 innings, giving up three runs on five hits while striking out three.

Greyfer Eregura was solid in picking up his first save of the year; he worked 1.1 scoreless innings while striking out one.

TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 2016

Not enough offensive firepower for Iowa last night as they were only able to push across two runs on five hits in a 4-2 loss to New Orleans. The loss drops the I-Cubs to a 1-5 record to start the season.

At the Plate:

Willson Contreras stayed hot last night; he went 2-for-4 with his third double of the season, and a run scored.

Albert Almora is struggling to find hits; he went 0-for-3 with an RBI in the loss.

Kristopher Negron went 1-for-3 with his first dinger of the year, an RBI, and a run scored.

On the Mound:

Ryan Williams was much better in his second start; he worked five innings, giving up one run on six hits while walking one, and striking out three.

Scott Barnes picked up the loss in relief; he worked 1.2 innings, giving up two runs on three hits while walking two, and striking out two.

Jean Machi tossed 1.1 innings, giving up one run, unearned, on one hit while walking one, and striking out two.

C.J. Riefenhauser had his bet appearance of 2016, he worked a scoreless ninth inning.

It took ten innings, but the South Bend Cubs took care of Bowling Green, 3-2. A solid effort across the board as the Cubs trailed 2-0 after one half inning before shutting down the Hot Rods the rest of the way.

At the Plate:

Donnie Dewees is a triples machine; he went 2-for-4 with his second triple of the year, a walk, a stolen base, and two runs scored.

Eloy Jimenez was the thunder for the Cubs; he went 4-for-5 with a double, and an RBI.

Preston Morrison got beat up pretty bad as he took his first loss of the season. Morrison worked four innings, giving up eight runs, three earned, on seven hits while walking two, and striking out two.

Kyle Twomey was great out of the pen, he worked four innings, giving up one run on three hits while walking one, and striking out seven.

Some of my best memories at this blog have been writing and reporting about the Cubs minor league system because of how good it has been. Leading up to last year it was really the only thing to get excited about as the Major League team was subpar at best. Now the Cubs are World Series favorites, and the prospect rankings are not as top heavy but the talent is apparent throughout. That’s part of what makes this year so fun, winning at the major league level and still seeing a tremendous amount of organizational talent in the system.

I really can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to keep an eye on all the arms that are on this list. I really feel like there are a number of pitchers on this list that are close to making a major impact in the system, and eventually on the big league roster. Duane Underwood (#4), Pierce Johnson (#11), Carl Edwards Jr. (#16), and Ryan Williams (#19) all have a great chance to be pitching on the North Side this year. I mentioned that the prospects near the top of this list might not have the same allure as a Kris Bryant, or Anthony Rizzo but they are players who will be part of the next wave of big league talent. I wouldn’t be surprised if Willson Contreras (#2) sees time with the Cubs this year as the backup catcher, or splitting time with Montero/Schwarber depending on what day it is. Please don’t sleep on Albert Almora, a healthy 2016 will go a long way to seeing if he is indeed the CF of the future for the Cubs.

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